


something in the distance

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, Oneshot, warnings: homophobic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 05:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: “Hi,” she says, lingering at the bottom of the steps.The girl blinks at her, almost looking confused. “Uh… Hi.”“I’m Alyssa.” She points over her shoulder. “I live over there.”“I’m Emma. I live… here. Now.”Alyssa gives a low laugh and walks up the steps, leaning on the support post of the porch. “I figured."





	something in the distance

The new girl in town doesn’t even have time to unpack a single box before the entire teenage population of Edgewater is spreading rumors.

“I heard she was in juvie,” Kaylee says, perched on the railing of Alyssa’s front porch and staring across the cul de sac at the blonde girl taking a guitar case out of the bed of her truck.

Alyssa, sitting on the porch swing with Shelby, rolls her eyes. “I doubt that, Kay.”

“She wouldn’t be going to Madison Prep if she had been in juvie,” Shelby says, casually sipping her soda.

“Wait. How do you know she’s going there?” Alyssa asks, watching as the blonde runs out of her new house to take what seems to be a heavy box from the old woman she’s been unloading with.

“I saw some of those bags they put the uniforms in when we bought ours.”

Kaylee scoffs. “I can’t believe they changed the system right before we got there. How am I supposed to make boys do what I want if I can’t show off my legs? Madison Prep doesn’t even have cheerleading!”

“That might be _why_ they decided that everybody should just wear pants,” Alyssa says.

“Besides,” Shelby says dryly, “I doubt that’s the only way you could get a guy to do what you want.”

“Good point,” Kaylee replies with a grin. She crosses her legs and rests her chin on her hand. “You know, there’s only that field between your house and hers, Alyssa, and with the curve of the street you’re a little bit across from her, too. You’re like her next door neighbor _and_ her across-the-street neighbor all at the same time.”

“What’s your point?”

“The point is that you can give us all the juicy details about her.”

“Kaylee. Come on. What do you want me to do, sit in my room with binoculars and keep a log of when she takes the trash out?”

“Do you have anything better to do?”

Alyssa glares at her. “Rude.”

* * *

She goes back out onto her porch after dinner to sit and read, and she notices the new girl sitting on her own porch with her guitar, not really playing it so much as idly plucking one of the strings as she stares blankly towards the field between their houses.

Alyssa starts to sit down before she mutters under her breath and walks over.

“Hi,” she says, lingering at the bottom of the steps.

The girl blinks at her, almost looking confused. “Uh… Hi.”

“I’m Alyssa.” She points over her shoulder. “I live over there.”

“I’m Emma. I live… here. Now.”

Alyssa gives a low laugh and walks up the steps, leaning on the support post of the porch. “I figured. Where are you from?”

Emma bites her lip, her gaze anxious. “My grandmother just moved here from Watercrest.”

She notes that it’s not quite an answer, exactly, but it’s not something she’s going to push. “You’re living with your grandmother?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Emma doesn’t seem like she’s about to clarify further, so Alyssa nods at the guitar and ventures further onto the porch, taking a seat on the opposite end of the swing. “How long have you played?”

She can practically see the girl relax, just a bit, at the start of a conversation that isn’t about her living situation. “Only for a few years. It really just started as something to occupy my hands, but I figured I should learn at least a couple songs so that I didn’t annoy everyone by just strumming a loud random note whenever I got anxious.”

Alyssa gives a small smile. “Can you play something now?”

Emma grins at her, the nervousness in her eyes fading to something more playful. “Pre-freshman year reading that boring for you?”

“What…” Alyssa looks down at the copy of _Lord of the Flies_ in her hand. “Oh. How did you know this is assigned summer reading?”

“You don’t seem the type to read that for fun,” Emma says with a shrug. “Plus, I’ve got my copy upstairs in my room.”

“So you _are_ going to Madison Prep,” Alyssa mutters, almost as an afterthought. When Emma frowns, she quickly says, “My friends and I were at my house earlier, and we saw you unloading your uniforms.”

“Mm. Yeah. They’re stylish.”

Alyssa laughs. “I’m sure you look fine in it.” She pauses, suddenly feeling a bit flustered by her choice of words. “Uhm… You can’t just change the subject to avoid proving that you can really play the guitar, you know.”

Emma raises an eyebrow. “What, now you’re _doubting me?”_

“Maybe I am,” Alyssa challenges.

Emma shakes her head, amused, and shifts her guitar in her lap.

She’s barely a few notes into a song before Alyssa groans and covers her face with her hands, leaning back and laughing. “No! You did not just ‘Wonderwall’ me!”

Emma is snickering so hard that she can’t even continue playing, half leaning on her guitar. “I’m not even sorry. You brought it on yourself.”

The front door swings open, and the old woman who had been unloading boxes earlier with Emma steps outside. “Emma, could you- Oh.” She pauses, glancing between Emma and Alyssa as they both rush to pull themselves together. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize anyone else was out here.” She takes a few confident steps towards Alyssa and holds out a hand. “Betsy Nolan. I’m Emma’s grandma.”

Alyssa stands to shake her hand. “Alyssa Greene, ma’am. I live next door.”

“Well, it’s certainly a pleasure to meet you, Alyssa.”

“You as well.” Alyssa glances at her watch. “Uh, I, uh, need to get going. It was nice talking to you, Emma.”

“Yeah,” Emma murmurs. She clears her throat. “Uhm. I’ll see you around, I guess?”

“Sure.”

As Alyssa heads off the porch, she hears Betsy quietly say, “She seems nice.”

Emma groans softly, her voice so low that Alyssa only just barely hears it. “Please, don’t.”

She sets the exchange aside for contemplation later, letting her focus rest for the time being on the warm feeling that had flooded her chest when she heard Emma laugh.

* * *

Madison Prep isn’t a religious high school, but it’s one of the best schools around for getting kids into college. While Alyssa knows her mother would rather die than say it out loud, she also knows which of those two things is actually more important to Veronica Greene.

Most of the teachers grade to a curve, which Alyssa appreciates, because it gives her the chance to set the bar and get as high of grades as possible.

Which is why it’s a surprise when she goes to check the grades posted outside her geometry class for their first test, and her student number _is_ towards the top, but it’s not _the_ top.

It’s second, for a final score of 97.

There’s nothing wrong with it, but the idea of it still irritates her, so she nudges Shelby with her elbow when she stops beside her. “How dare you get my 100, you ass.”

“That’s not me,” Shelby says. “I’m the other student number who’s in the second tier with you.”

“…Kaylee?”

Shelby shakes her head. “She’s the first one in the third tier right below me.”

Alyssa blinks. She knows it sounds arrogant, but ever since Carrie and Jess decided not to stress over their grades, the only people who have had any consistency towards the top of the grading scales have been her, Shelby, and Kaylee, and this is an entirely new feeling for her.

“If it’s not one of you two, then who’s got the 100?”

“That’s me.”

Alyssa and Shelby both turn. Emma is standing behind them, looking up at the board, her hands tucked casually into her pockets. Alyssa takes a moment to let herself think that nobody had any right to look _that_ good in khakis, a white button-down, a red and gold striped tie, and a dark red blazer.

Then she says, “How dare you, Nolan, that was my curve.”

Emma shrinks away for just a moment before she seems to shake it off. “You should’ve done better, I guess.”

“Oh, I will.” Alyssa steps forward, smirking. “I take those kinds of challenges very seriously, Emma.”

“So do I,” Emma retorts.

Shelby sighs heavily. “Because high school wasn’t hard enough.”

* * *

It’s two in the morning and Alyssa can’t sleep. She goes to her window to see if fresh air will help, but when she opens her blinds she’s distracted from her frustration by the sight of Emma lying in the field between their homes.

Alyssa pulls her window open and leans out of it. “Hey,” she hisses, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible but still loud enough that Emma will hear it.

Emma turns her head, clearly surprised even in the darkness. “Alyssa?”

“What are you doing?”

“Why don’t you come down here and find out?”

“It’s two in the morning!”

“Yeah, and you’re clearly sleeping!”

Alyssa frowns but can’t argue. She knows her mother sleeps heavy, so she isn’t too afraid to creep downstairs and out the door. When she walks up to Emma, lying in the grass with her hands behind her head, she says, “What’s going on?”

“Lie down.”

She’s not sure why she’s going along with this, but she lies down in the grass and mimics Emma’s pose. “Now have I earned the right to know what you’re doing?”

“Just look at the stars, Alyssa Greene,” Emma says softly.

Alyssa settles, watching the sky, just lying in the gentle breeze of a cool March night. She’s surprised by how relaxing it is, really, her breathing slowing to match the calm breaths she can hear Emma taking.

“It’s quiet out here,” Alyssa whispers.

“I know. I come out here when I can’t sleep. It’s… It’s soothing.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Emma snorts quietly. “You first.”

Alyssa folds her hands on top of her stomach, still staring up at the stars. “I’m nervous about our biology class. I’m not really sure I can remember everything. I just don’t get certain things, and keeping my grade up is stressing me out.”

“We should study together.”

Alyssa turns to her, eyebrows raising. “What?”

Emma’s blushing, not looking at her, but she says, “Before the next test, why don’t we study together? We’re smart, competitive people. If we worked together, I’m sure we could figure it out.”

“But… you’re not having trouble, are you?”

“No.”

“Then…” Alyssa frowns. “Why offer to help?”

Emma shrugs. “Why shouldn’t I? It’s no fun to get better scores than you if you’re not on your game.”

Alyssa lazily smacks her arm, making Emma laugh. “Smug bastard.”

“Maybe just a little.”

“But I… I’d appreciate that, Emma. If you really wouldn’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Emma says softly.

They lie there in silence, looking up at the stars, until Alyssa feels herself start to doze off. She says goodnight to Emma and heads back to her house, and it’s only when she’s back in her room that she realizes that she’d gotten distracted and completely forgot to find out why Emma didn’t sleep.

* * *

There’s a murmur through the school when Alyssa walks through the door a few months into sophomore year. “What’s going on?” she asks when she sees Kaylee and Shelby pushing through the crowd to meet her.

“Somebody put these on everybody’s locker,” Kaylee says, sounding breathless as she hands Alyssa a piece of paper.

Alyssa frowns down at it and feels her stomach sink.

It’s a photocopy of a letter sent to Dr. Hawkins, the head of the school. The words are precise, polite, but Alyssa can practically feel the venom behind them as she reads. The letter, rather short, is one requesting that the school not send any further communication to the sender about his child, because he’s disowned her for being gay, and all information can go to her current place of residence.

All of the sender’s information, his name and the information he’s provided about himself, have been blacked out.

What hasn’t been blacked out – what has, instead, been mockingly highlighted – is who he’s talking about.

Emma Nolan.

“I don’t understand,” Alyssa whispers shakily. “What is this?”

“One of the seniors; his mom works in the office and she left her laptop open,” Shelby says quietly, her voice thick with derision. “He went through her files and found a copy of this letter from last year.”

Alyssa wasn’t entirely sure what part of all this Shelby was disgusted at, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. “It’s… That’s… Why would someone do that?”

Shelby shrugs and looks away, her eyes narrow.

“Ten bucks says that’s the real reason she moved here,” Kaylee mutters.

They hear yelling and a loud banging sound from further down the hallway, and Alyssa shoves the paper back into Kaylee’s hands before shoving through the crowd to investigate.

When she gets closer to the yelling, she finds that the crowd is pulled back into a circle, surrounding a scene that makes Alyssa’s heart ache. Emma’s books are on the ground and her back is against a locker, her hands struggling with the arm of a much larger boy who’s holding her in place by her tie.

“Why did you give my girlfriend your number?” he demands, his voice aggressive and furious. “You trying to turn her gay, you little freak?”

“I just… helped her with… her paper,” Emma rasps.

He punches her, hard, square in the gut, and if he wasn’t holding her upright she definitely would’ve doubled over. “Don’t you _fucking_ lie to me.”

Emma coughs, weaker than would be expected, and she pulls at his arm again.

Alyssa suddenly realizes what nobody else seems to care enough to: Emma can barely even _breathe._

“Knock it off,” Alyssa growls, pushing her way into the clearing. She shoves at the older boy’s shoulder. “She’s had enough, don’t you think?”

“Not until I get the right answer.”

“You mean not until you get the answer you _want.”_

He pauses and glances at Alyssa, his eyes dark. “Why do you even care?”

Alyssa sniffs. “Because _I’m_ not in _third grade.”_

There’s a long moment as the hallway starts to go quiet, and Alyssa realizes, right then, that she’s probably about to get punched. Instead, the boy lets go of Emma, who promptly slides down to the floor as her legs give out on her. He prods a finger against Alyssa’s shoulder roughly. “Think about who you side with. People might start rumors.” He gives Alyssa a cold grin and walks away, and the crowd dissipates as if nothing happened.

Alyssa kneels down in front of Emma and rests her fingers against her cheek. She uses her other hand to loosen the tie that Emma’s trembling fingers are struggling with. “Emma,” she murmurs. “Look at me.”

Emma’s gasping for air, her hazel eyes thick with fear and something that looks far too much like self-loathing for Alyssa’s comfort. “Do you know?” she whispers, her voice hoarse.

Alyssa nods. “I saw the paper.”

Emma looks on the verge of crying. “I meant to tell you. I swear to God, Alyssa, I meant to tell you.”

“Shh.” Alyssa gently strokes her thumb against Emma’s cheek, just once, too aware of where she was. “It’s okay. We can talk about it somewhere else once you’ve calmed down.”

She turns her head, wondering where Emma’s textbooks ended up, and finds them neatly stacked in Shelby’s arms. She and Kaylee are a few feet away, unreadable expressions on their faces, watching them.

“Come on,” Kaylee says, her voice softer than Alyssa thinks she’s ever heard it. “If we duck out the back we can be off school property and gone before anyone even notices we’ve left.”

Alyssa has never ditched school in her life.

But she doesn’t even think about it as she pulls the still-trembling Emma to her feet, puts an arm around her shoulders, and leads her as they follow Kaylee and Shelby to the exit.

* * *

Alyssa lies down in the grass in the middle of the night, not quite touching Emma but not avoiding her either. “We haven’t really gotten to talk much since last week.”

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’ve been… I’ve been avoiding you a bit,” Emma admits quietly.

She thinks back to the day they left school, to her, Kaylee, and Shelby sitting Emma down on a bench in the cold fall air, silent as they let Emma breathe.

“That’s okay. I understand.” Alyssa watches the stars above them, hidden by occasional clouds. “I just… Could I ask you something?”

“…I guess?”

“Do you… Do you know that you could’ve told me? I wouldn’t have looked at you differently. I wouldn’t have refused to study with you anymore or anything.”

Emma is quiet for a moment. “I was scared,” she whispers. “I felt like maybe I could tell you, but the last time I _told_ someone, I got kicked out of my house and school became such a living hell that my grandmother moved just so I’d stop coming home looking like I’d taken up boxing.”

“Jesus,” Alyssa mutters.

“It’s happening again,” Emma says, her voice coming out broken. “It’s gonna happen again.”

“No.” Alyssa rolls onto her side and reaches out to set a hand on top of one of Emma’s. “I’m not going to let it, Em.”

Emma lets out a sarcastic laugh and turns her head to look at Alyssa, her eyes full of pain. “What can you do? They’ll just go after you, too. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“I’ll figure something out. You don’t deserve this.” Alyssa gives a gentle laugh. “For a start, maybe you shouldn’t help girls who have angry boyfriends study, huh?”

Emma blushes a little. “I technically wasn’t helping her study.”

Alyssa gives a scandalized gasp that fades into a giggle. _“Emma Nolan!”_

“It wasn’t like that,” Emma says quickly, and Alyssa is relieved to see her start to brighten. “I, uh, sort of have been taking money to write people’s papers for them.”

“For fuck’s sake. You can get expelled for that.”

Emma shrugs and looks away. “I’m gonna have to leave eventually anyway. Might as well get some money while I wait for the inevitable.”

“Stop it.” Alyssa pushes up to lean on her elbow. “Your grandmother is paying for you to go to this school, right?”

“I-I…” Emma flinches, guilty, and doesn’t respond.

“Look, I have no idea what it was like last time. I know that what’s going on right now absolutely sucks. But don’t fucking throw your chances away because of those _assholes_.” Alyssa moves her hand up and rests it just under Emma’s chin to bring her eyes up to meet hers. “Don’t give them the satisfaction.”

“Why do you care so much?” Emma stares at her with a soft gaze. “Caring will just make them accuse you of being like me, Lys.”

Alyssa swallows and turns Emma’s head, leaning in and kissing her gently on the cheek. In a shaky voice, she whispers, “I… I might… I think I _am_ like you.”

Emma lets out a shuddering breath, but before she can respond, Alyssa stands and hurries back towards her house.

* * *

She knows the exact moment she realized it, as a conscious thought. The problem is, it’s such a small, silly thing that Alyssa isn’t sure she could ever tell anyone what it is.

It was one of the nights she couldn’t sleep, when she joined Emma out in the field, over summer between freshman and sophomore year. Emma was pointing up at random clusters of stars, making up constellations that Alyssa knew didn’t exist.

“You’re such a liar,” Alyssa giggled, prodding Emma in the ribs.

“I’m not lying. You can’t prove it.”

“Oh, do you want me to take my phone out and show you why you’re a liar?” Alyssa took her phone out of her pocket and waved it mockingly in front of Emma’s face. “I can.”

“Fuck you. That’s cheating.” Emma dove for it, grinning, and the momentum sent them both tumbling over each other until they ended up in a tangled heap, Alyssa on top of Emma, both of them laughing.

Emma smiled at her and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind Alyssa’s ear, and she felt it again.

The warmth in her chest.

It clicked in her head, a soft voice just whispering _‘oh’_, and she knew.

She knew.

* * *

It’s snowing, and Emma is sitting on her front porch playing her guitar.

Alyssa walks up the steps and leans on the railing, watching her for a long moment. “I saw that you got a B on our algebra test.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So… Why?”

Emma stops playing and squints at her. “Because I got a B.”

“You’ve never gotten a B on one of our math tests.”

“Keeping an eye on my grades, Greene?” Emma asks, an amused tone in her voice.

“I notice a lot of things about you.”

They stare at each other for a moment until Emma looks down at her guitar. “I didn’t sleep the night before. Couldn’t focus. Couldn’t study.”

“Why?” Alyssa asks softly.

Emma starts playing again, almost unconsciously. “My dad called me.”

Alyssa winces. “What did he want?”

“He finally heard that his letter got around school and he accused me of spreading it to make him look bad.”

“Why the hell would you do that? His information was blacked out anyway, and even if it wasn’t, all that letter did was hurt _you.”_

Emma gives her a thin smile. “My parents are egotistical assholes, so. I’m not entirely shocked.”

Alyssa sits down next to her and watches the soft snow continue to fall. “They’re not your fault, Emma. Can you do me a favor? If you ever feel like that again, can you text me? I might not be able to make you feel better, but maybe I can at least keep you somewhere on track for studying something?”

“You’d do that?” Emma whispers.

“Em,” Alyssa says with a laugh. “What’s it going to take for you to understand that I’m always ready to help you? You’ve helped me study; I’d help you right back.”

There’s a moment where Emma just stares at her, then she gives a small nod. Alyssa grins and nods back, then stands and starts to head off the porch.

“Hey, Alyssa?”

She pauses on the bottom step and glances back at Emma. “Yeah?”

“I, uh… I stopped writing papers for people.”

Alyssa’s eyes soften. “Good.”

* * *

On the first day of junior year, Alyssa finds Emma in one of the school bathrooms, spitting blood into a sink.

“What the…”

Emma rips a paper towel out of the dispenser and presses it against her nose and mouth. “M’fine.”

“No; you’re not.” Alyssa takes another paper towel and grabs Emma by the shoulder, turning her and leaning her against the wall. “Let me see.”

“S’fine,” Emma insists.

Alyssa rolls her eyes and grabs Emma’s wrist, pulling her hand away.

Emma’s nose is bloody and her lip is split, and she’s clearly been punched in the face.

“Jesus, Emma.” Alyssa turns the water on to dampen the paper towel and grips Emma’s jaw to hold her in place as she wipes the blood off of her face.

“I’m alright,” Emma sighs.

“Bullshit. Who did this to you?”

“Dunno. Some senior. Seems when I told his girlfriend that I wasn’t writing papers for people anymore she decided to claim that I had hit on her.”

“Why would someone do that?”

Emma gives her a tired look. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“I’m sorry,” Alyssa whispers.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I just… I just am.” Alyssa’s hands lower from Emma’s face. “I am.” She hugs Emma tightly and sighs. “I’m sorry.”

Emma hugs her back, her breathing shallow, and Alyssa’s eyes flutter shut as she lets herself get lost in the contact.

The warning bell for class startles them apart, and Alyssa can tell that they’re both blushing. Alyssa reaches up and fidgets with Emma’s tie, adjusting it and straightening the position of the knot. “I-I have to go,” Alyssa stammers.

“So do I,” Emma says.

They stare at each other for another minute, flustered, and then try to leave at the same time, smacking into each other.

“Shit,” Emma mumbles. “Way to go, Nolan.”

Alyssa laughs awkwardly. “You go first.”

“No, no, after you. I need a second to get my head on right anyway.”

“Okay.” Alyssa pauses again for just a second before turning and practically running out of the bathroom.

* * *

“Do you ever think about how many of the stars we’re looking at are already dead?”

Alyssa turns her head, frowning. “What?”

“The light takes so long to get to Earth that by the time we see it, most of the stars that made it are already gone.”

“You’re in a gloomy mood tonight, huh?”

Emma laughs and turns toward her. “Not really. Just thinking out loud.”

She lifts her hand and pushes a lock of hair behind Alyssa’s ear, almost as afterthought, and Alyssa feels the spiral of heat within her again.

Emma’s gaze drops to Alyssa’s lips, just briefly, and Alyssa loses her hold on the thin restraint she’s still had.

She kisses Emma Nolan.

It starts soft, tentative, and it take a few seconds for Emma to even respond. When she does, the hand lingering near Alyssa’s jaw takes a firmer grip and pulls her in, and the soft kiss deepens.

There’s a quiet whimper in the back of Emma’s throat that urges Alyssa on, and, in the desperate attempt to kiss Emma as hard as possible, she pushes forward.

She’s pretty sure she must have blacked out, it’s the only explanation, because there’s no way she would have straddled Emma to make out with her in the field between their houses at three o’clock in the morning if she was experiencing any level of sense.

Emma’s hands grip her waist as if she’s afraid of what they’ll do if she lets go, and she whispers, “Oh, God.” She pushes on Alyssa’s hips, just slightly, and the kissing stops abruptly. “Oh, God,” she repeats, panting. “What are we doing?”

“Well,” Alyssa says slowly. “I’m pretty sure I was kissing you.”

“Why?” Emma asks in a strangled voice.

Alyssa blinks down at her and starts to sit up, to move, but Emma’s hands stay clenched on her hips and holding her in place. “I, uh… I’m gay and I really like you?”

“Oh.” Emma swallows. “Oh. Okay.”

“You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I might.”

Alyssa strokes her thumb across Emma’s cheek. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while. Maybe even since the first time I saw you.”

“That’s, uh… That’s a long time.”

“No shit.” Alyssa swallows, anxious, but she still can’t get off of Emma. “Uhm… I-I’m sorry if… If I crossed a line, but I-”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while, too,” Emma whispers.

Her heart flips. “You have?”

“Uh-huh,” Emma says, nodding a bit too quickly. “When you told me you thought you were gay, I… Shit, it got so much harder not to just do it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Emma raises an eyebrow. “Why didn’t _you?”_

Alyssa laughs softly. “Touché.”

Emma’s eyes soften as Alyssa’s laughter fades. “So you… you like me?”

“Yeah, Emma. I really do.”

“I-I like you, too.”

Alyssa grins down at her. “Does that mean we should keep kissing?”

Emma nods, a small smirk on her lips. “I think that would be a fabulous idea.”

* * *

Alyssa groans as her back slams into the door of a bathroom stall at school. Her tie is undone, as are the top few buttons of her shirt, and she can’t care less because Emma’s mouth is hot on her skin.

“God, we shouldn’t do this,” she mutters as her fingers thread through Emma’s hair. “I lectured you on things that would get you expelled, and here I am about five seconds away from begging you to let me-”

She slaps a hand over her mouth, both to stifle a moan and to keep herself from finishing her sentence.

Emma lifts her head, her eyes bright and amused. “What was that, Greene?”

“Nothing,” Alyssa squeaks.

Emma presses against her, fully intentionally, a smug smirk forming on her face when Alyssa shudders. “Are you sure?”

Alyssa swallows. “Fuck you,” she whispers.

Emma raises an eyebrow. “Was that the conclusion to your sentence, or just a general ‘fuck you’? It’s a little hard to tell.”

“Your cocky moments are possibly the worst things that have ever happened to me.”

“I doubt that very much, baby.”

Alyssa tightens her grip on Emma’s hair. “How about you just get back to what you were doing and keep your mouth occupied?”

Emma leans back and starts buttoning Alyssa’s shirt for her. “Nah.”

“I… What…”

Emma gets to work on Alyssa’s tie and grins. “You said it yourself. This is just _so_ risky. I wouldn’t want you to get expelled.”

Alyssa stares at her. “You’ll pay for this, Nolan. I hope you know that.”

Emma winks at her. “I look forward to it.”

* * *

Their first time is a chilly night in the spring of their junior year, a night when Mrs. Greene is away on a business trip and Emma can come up with an excuse to leave the house.

Alyssa has a log of all the times she’s sworn that Emma would pay for being smug while they made out, and she’s a woman who keeps her promises.

In the long run, though, they’re both pretty sure the ‘payment’ is a lot more like a reward.

* * *

“I can’t take this anymore. I can’t _watch_ this anymore,” Alyssa says, fuming, as she holds an ice pack to a bruise on the back of Emma’s shoulder.

“Believe me, Lys, this is nowhere near as bad as it’s been. This is pretty infrequent occasions. My last school was pretty much every day.”

Alyssa shakes her head and presses a kiss to Emma’s cheek. “What if…”

“What if what?”

“Maybe if you were _alone,_ weren’t the only one, maybe they’d-”

“Alyssa,” Emma says, a warning tone in her voice. “You can’t come out just because kids at school are assholes to me. You’re just going to put yourself in-”

“I’m _tired,”_ Alyssa interrupts desperately. “I’m tired of hiding who I am. I’m tired of hiding what _we_ are. We only have one semester left in this place, and I want everyone to know that I’m in love with you.”

Emma blinks.

“I-I…” Alyssa swallows, flushed pink. “I’m in love with you, Emma.”

“I’m in love with you, too,” Emma says quietly.

Alyssa kisses her softly and rests their foreheads together. “Then let me do this. Please. Even if it goes wrong, at least we’ll have each other?”

Emma grits her teeth and nods. “Okay. It’s your decision to make, after all.”

Alyssa closes her eyes and takes in a breath. “Okay.”

* * *

She doesn’t make an announcement. She just shows up at school on Monday and starts holding Emma’s hand in the hallway, letting Emma escort her to class, kissing Emma on the cheek whenever she feels like it.

It doesn’t take long for people to figure it out.

“Hey. Dumbasses,” Shelby says as she and Kaylee jog up from behind Emma and Alyssa in the hallway and start walking on either side of them. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re together?”

“Kind of hard to have a _secret_ relationship if you go and tell people, Shelby,” Alyssa says dryly.

“Yeah, but we would’ve understood,” Kaylee says, shooting a glance at Shelby.

“We definitely would’ve,” Shelby agrees, meeting Kaylee’s gaze and giving her a look full of significance that Alyssa can’t comprehend.

“You two would,” Emma replies gently. “But the rest of the school is a harder sell, you know?”

“Fair point,” Shelby says warily, suddenly breaking her eye contact with Kaylee and looking anywhere else. “Has anyone caused issues yet?”

“Not yet.” Emma puts an arm around Alyssa’s shoulders. “And I don’t really give a shit if they want to.”

* * *

“Hey,” Alyssa says softly as she ties Emma’s tie for her. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“That’s an ominous question.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes and gently taps her fingers against Emma’s cheek. “We’re graduating.”

“So?”

_“So,_ I seem to remember having a conversation with you once about you being convinced that you were going to crash out of this school. It kind of sounded like you’d given up entirely on the idea of graduating at all.”

“I kind of did,” Emma admits softly.

“And now you did it,” Alyssa says, kissing Emma on the cheek.

Emma holds her hips to keep her from backing up. “I put the work in, but I could only do it because of you, Lys.”

“Stop it,” Alyssa says, blushing. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You did _everything._ I never had anybody in school – ever – before I met you. That means more than I can begin to say.”

Alyssa kisses her, long and slow and deep, and gently rests their foreheads together. “You’ve been more than I can begin to say, too. You know that?”

Emma swallows and shakes her head silently.

“Well, you have been.” She rests her hand on Emma’s cheek and pulls back, just a bit. “Now let’s graduate, Emma Nolan.”

* * *

They lay in the grass, staring up at the stars.

“See those ones over there? That little cluster?”

“Where?”

Emma takes Alyssa’s hand and points up at a group of stars to their left. “That one.”

“Okay. Sure.”

“That’s Assyla, the brilliant one. She was so intelligent that she could solve any test put forward to her, and for her knowledge she was memorialized in the stars.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes. “You’re so full of shit. You just said my name backwards.”

Emma grins at her. “Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Can’t prove it.”

“Don’t start that challenge again.”

“Why not?”

Alyssa throws herself at Emma with a sharp laugh, and they tumble for a minute until Emma ends up on top, pinning Alyssa’s wrists on either side of her head.

“Nice try, Greene,” Emma teases.

Alyssa grins up at her. “I love you,” she whispers.

Emma’s eyes soften. “I love you, too.” She leans down to kiss Alyssa, and the grip on her wrists loosens.

Alyssa flips them, knocking Emma onto her back with a soft _‘oof’,_ and pinning her down by her arms and her hips. “Ha,” Alyssa says with a smirk.

“That’s not fair,” Emma protests.

“I made up the rules, and I say it’s fair.”

Emma shakes her head slowly, an affectionate grin forming on her lips. “You are the most competitive person I’ve ever met.”

“I’m fine with that.” Alyssa presses a kiss to Emma’s cheek and then leans down further to murmur in her ear. “It means I get what I want.”

Emma shudders underneath her. “And what is it that you want?”

Alyssa pulls back, brushing their noses together, their eyes so close that even in the dim light they can see every detail. “You. I just want you.”

Emma’s eyes are bright and content as she whispers, “Looks like you really do always get what you want, then.”


End file.
